I was born in San Diego and ended up in Cowpens as a teenager. My parents never taught me any good morals of life. I married a preachers son. I lived in hatred and fear all the 15 years we were married. My two girls were 15 and 4 when I finally divorced. Feeling free and ,myself, at last I started drinking. I learned about depression because Sherry (my oldest)became scycotic because of the divorce. Over the years I drank more and more. I married Ted. I was drinking so bad I started having blackouts. Getting two DUIs and not remembering started to wake me up. Ted threated to divorce me. I was drinking on my job where I met Linwood Harris. I was drinking a pint of rum a day and then more if I could get it.
My ex-husbands dad led me to Christ. No one told me of a realationship so I just sang, went to church and followed my pastor. All of those years were wasted. I knew I would never be free doing things my way. I knew I needed Jesus.
I tried to quit. Four times I put myself in greenville hospital. I finally visited FBNS and gave my life back to God. Now I am free and forgiven. It was very hard to forgive myself, it was then I realized that Jesus gave His life for me so that i could be free indeed. I thank God for putting Linwood Harris and Charlotte Daniels in my life for showing me the love of Jesus.
Posted in Alcohol Impacted My Life, Divorce Impacted my Life , 1 Comment »
I was raised in a “church” family. I went to church all my life. However, I followed the crowd most of the time in that I did the social drinking scene and found myself in places I should not have been.
When I was a teen attending a church singing, I realized that I was not feeling or seeing clearly whether or not I had ever asked Christ to come into my life. I felt very heavy hearted and without any premeditation (quite shocking) I got up from my seat and went forward during the invitation. I spoke to the preacher and he led me in asking Jesus to forgive me of my sins and to come into my heart and life. I felt an instant relief, like I had a weight lifted off my shoulders.
I wish I could say I did what I was supposed to do as a Christian. But I didn’t. In my young adult years I went into complete rebellion. I did the “club” scene, dated a lot, and just lived a life not pleasing to God at all. It took me years to realize that I wasn’t where I needed to be. About 10 years ago, I FINALLY gave up my own will and rededicated my life to Christ completely. Now I can see God in every decision I make. I’ve gone through a divorce and financial abandonment. People have been placed in my life and my children’s lives that have clearly been sent by God. I would have never been able to make it financially over this last year, but because I have put my complete trust in God and have followed His will, we made it. I should have been an emotional basket case by now with what this divorce has brought to me, but I have a tremendous peace that is ONLY from God. People around me say they can’t even tell I’m going through what I am… I say it’s because of the Lord. He can do anything as long as you keep Him in your heart and make His will your own. God has orchestrated everything from a sudden unexpected change in a judge at a hearing to laying it upon people’s hearts to make anonymous donations in some way towards my family. My children have suffered, but there is no doubt that if they were not both following Christ themselves they would not be as well adjusted and thriving like they are. I’ve seen firsthand what God can do. I see a clear difference in how this crisis has been handled WITH Christ as my Savior verses other crises when I was doing it on my own.
Posted in Divorce Impacted my Life, I Grew Up in Church , No Comments »
I lived in a home where we never went to church or even talked about spiritual things. My family consisted of twelve children. There were six boys and six girls. I knew my parents loved me but they never told me. I never remember having a Dad / Mom conversation growing up. We lived and let live. We never talked about church and spiritual things. The only time I remember being in church with my mom and dad was at my dad’s funeral and my mom was at my wedding. Around the age of nine, a neighbor invited me to church. For about two years, I went to church every time the doors were open. At first the pastor would pick me up and later on, I would ride the church bus. I loved Sunday school and even the preaching. Later in life, I was married and after twelve years it ended in divorce. There was a huge hole in my life that I could not get filled up. It got bigger and bigger as I ran from the things of God. Then one day I went to a home of a friend whose brother had died. There was one chair over in the corner in the middle of a bunch of godly men. As they shared stories about the man that had died and gone to heaven, they even shouted, laughed, and cried. WOW! I was thinking what I had gotten into. This was supposed to be a “SAD” time. Everyone seem to be so happy. I wanted to leave but the more I listened about the love of God, the more I wanted to hear. If someone had asked me to, I would have gotten down on my knees right there. From that Friday evening until Sunday morning, God was speaking to my heart. I wanted what they had. I needed what they had. I needed that hole in my life filled.
Sunday morning arrived and I just had to get to the church. I sat with my friend in the second pew from the front. The pastor preached and a quartet was singing “THE APPLE TREE” for the invitation to give your life to the Lord. My friend’s mom touched me on the arm and asked me if I was ready to give my life to the Lord. Before she got the sentence out, I was at the altar on my knees. I asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins and come into my life and be my Lord and Savior.
Before my salvation, I had no regard for Christians, preachers, churches, or anything that had to do with God. The second Jesus came into my life ALL of that went away! I am a NEW creation . My entire thinking about life was changed. Remember the HUGE HOLE? It was now full of Jesus. Since then, I married a godly lady that went to be with the Lord in 1991 and now God has given me another godly lady. In fourteen years of marriage, Merle and I have lived a lifetime together. God Has blessed us in so many ways. God has taken this country boy with little education to different parts of the world to witness for Him. He opened doors in places in Romania that ONLY GOD could do. I have spoken in churches and homes in Romania and seen hundreds pray to give their lives to Jesus. If He can use me, He can use anybody. Give your life to Jesus now. That would be the most important thing you will ever do. I did and if I died before tomorrow, I will be with the Lord Jesus. I believe that God put that chair in the corner just for me. Are you missing something in your life? How big will you let that hole in your life grow before you let God fill it? The world can not fill it, only God can.
Posted in Divorce Impacted my Life, I was Searching for More , No Comments »
My parents got divored when I was 8 years old. My mother remarried a good man and we started going to church. I joined the church and was baptized at 9 yrs old. We moved across town and quit going to church when I was in High School. I got married and had a daughter while also working outside the home. My husband and I never got involved in church; I was not happy in our marriage and we divorced. I then met a man who asked me to go into business with him. We became friends and fell in love. We had a great business together, good relations with his daughter and mine, traveled often, had nice cars and were enjoying the “good life”, but I knew there was more… something was missing….
My mother had started going to FBNS while my step dad was attending church with his elderly father. My Mother asked us to visit FBNS with her. She really enjoyed going there and I could see the difference it was making in her life. I started visiting with her and began to hear about God’s love and what He did for me through Jesus Christ. I saw how I had made wrong choices in my life while I had been in control. I saw my sin for what it was and what it cost God’s Son, Jesus. I saw that God had a plan and a purpose for my life. I confessed my sin and asked Jesus to come into my life, forgive my sins and be my Lord and Savior, and I wanted to live the rest of my life for Him. I married my business partner and he also made Jesus his Lord.
My husband and I sought to teach and lead our daughters to Jesus. We began to serve Him in His church. I found what I had been searching for, meaning and purpose for this life. God has been faithful in teaching and guiding me through His Word and Church family. There have been challenges in my life since with family, business and finances; but God is faithful and I know He is working in all situations for good and for His glory. I seek to serve Him, and I want my life to make a difference for Him.
Posted in Divorce Impacted my Life, I Made Bad Choices , No Comments »
When I was very young my family attended a small Southern Baptist church regularly. In fact, my dad was even a deacon of the church. All of us - Mom, Dad, two brothers, a sister, and myself - enjoyed going to church and life was great. So great in fact that when God called me to join His family I did not hesitate. I knew that I wanted to have Jesus in my heart right away. So, at the age of 11, I asked Jesus to be my Savior. Finally, my life was perfect! Little did I know that within 4 years of making the decision to follow Christ my “perfect” life would be shattered. Without very much notice my mom and dad divorced. My dad went one way and the rest of us went another. All of a sudden everything changed. Mom worked all the time to try and support us. Dad had another wife and family. Going to church fell way down on our priority list. And with that I fell away from God.
Even though for several years I was not living as if Christ lived in me, God was faithful. He allowed me to find a wonderful man that I would eventually marry. We loved each other dearly but we were missing something. Neither of us spoke much about church in our first years of marriage but my younger brother was so excited about attending FBNS that we couldn’t turn him down when he asked us to visit. We did and loved it. In fact we found ourselves on our third visit on a Commitment Sunday. I looked over at Trent and he looked at me and we knew. We knew that we had found what we had been missing - JESUS! We joined the church that Sunday and we haven’t looked back. We rededicated our whole lives to Him.
Since that day, God has blessed us beyond messure. We now have 2 beautiful children, Sarah and Cameron, and a church that allows us to serve the Lord through various ministries. Trent and I both now serve in the Children’s Ministry and I get to share with them my story of how Jesus died for me and by asking Him to come into my heart He gave me the greatest gift of all - ETERNAL LIFE!
Posted in Divorce Impacted my Life, I Grew Up in Church , No Comments »
